Good morning.
It’s March 29th, 2021 and here’s everything that happened in the world of baseball over the weekend.
3 days until Opening Day!
Season Preview Resources
There were many - mostly minor - roster moves as teams continue to finalize their Opening Day rosters. Instead of listing all of those, we’ll highlight some of the more notable moves down in the transactions section.
Since we’ve finally made it to opening week, we’re gonna switch things up a bit. Here’s some great resources and writings to help you get ready for the start of the season.
Fangraphs Roster Resource depth charts - If you’re a die-hard fan and a depth chart nerd like me, you’ll love the depth chart pages here. It’s continually updated, and includes projected 26-man rosters. This also includes updates to every re-assignment, option, and signing from the weekend.
MLB.com has opening day roster projections for each team.
Katherine Acquavella details what milestones could be hit in the 2021 season. Notable: 500 HRs for Miguel Cabrera and 3,000 strikeouts for Max Scherzer.
Hannah Keyser on baseball’s 2021 breakout players according to MLB GMs.
Sports Illustrated with bold predictions for the 2021 season.
Anthony Castrovince ranks the ten best bullpens in baseball.
Will Leitch ranks opening day starters 1-30.
This one has been shared here before but it’s worth another link: Jeff Passan previews the MLB season from every possible angle.
Buster Olney’s top 10s are always a great read. Here’s his top 10 teams and his top 10 players by position.
Justin Leger ranks the top 20 pitchers to begin the season.
Mike Petriello groups all 30 teams into seven different tiers. In the top tier, Yankees, Dodgers, Padres. Bottom tier: Rockies, Rangers, Orioles, Pirates.
One player from each team who wowed during spring training.
Everything Else
Transactions
Notable roster moves from the weekend:
RHP Randy Dobnak will sign a five year, $9.25 million extension with the Twins, per Jeff Passan. The deal includes three club options.
Pablo Sandoval, somewhat surprisingly, has made the opening day roster for the Braves.
The Braves released 2B Jason Kipnis.
The Cubs re-signed OF Cameron Maybin to a minor league deal, per Jordan Bastian.
The Angels signed RHP Noe Ramirez, per Jon Heyman.
The Royals added RHP Wade Davis to the team’s 40 man roster.
The Indians traded RHP Adam Plutko to the Orioles for cash considerations, per Jon Meoli.
The Rangers re-signed C Drew Butera to a minor league deal.
The Angels re-signed OF Jon Jay to a minor league deal, per Fabian Ardaya.
The Yankees released C Robinson Chirinos and added Jay Bruce to the major league roster.
Mariners OF Jarred Kelenic was re-assigned to minor league camp.
Injuries/Chatter
SS Francisco Lindor and Mets owner Steve Cohen had dinner on Saturday as the deadline for his contract extension nears, per Jeff Passan. Passan notes there remains hope that something will get done and projects the deal to be above $300 million.
Former #1 overall pick RHP Mark Appel is attempting a comeback with the Phillies, reports Matt Gelb. Appel hasn’t pitched since 2017 and has never made the major leagues.
Yankee 1B Luke Voit has a partial meniscus tear that requires surgery, per manager Aaron Boone. He’ll go three weeks with no baseball activity.
OF George Springer (oblique) is day-to-day per manager Charlie Montoya.
LHP Bruce Zimmerman has earned the #3 spot in Baltimore’s rotation.
The Rockies placed RHP Scott Oberg on the 60-day IL due to blood clots.
Dave Roberts told reporters the team isn’t quite ready to name their fifth starter who will join Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Trevor Bauer and Julio Urias in the rotation. He also noted that RHPs Joe Kelly and Brusdar Graterol will likely begin the season on the IL.
The Cardinals placed four players on the 10-day IL: RHP Dakota Hudson (elbow) RHP Kwang-Hyun Kim (back) RHP Miles Mikolas (shoulder) and OF Harrison Bader (forearm)
The Indians placed RHP Cam Hill (wrist) on the 60-day IL.
Giants 3B Tommy La Stella suffered a left knee contusion and is day-to-day.
Dodgers LHP David Price was scratched from yesterday’s start due to illness.
The Orioles placed 1B/DH Chris Davis (back) on the 60-day IL.
Jazz Chisholm has been named the starting 2B for the Marlins.
Posts With Your Toast
Tom Verducci on Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, and baseball’s tragicomedy.
Vinnie Duber relays what Michael Kopech told Eloy Jimenez about lengthy injury recoveries.
Marc Topkin details what Charlie Morton really thinks about the Rays.
Scoutt Lauber explains how a college thesis turned the Phillies’ Dave Dombrowski from an aspiring general manager to the ‘man in the middle.’
The Pirates have intriguing options for a leadoff hitter, says Gerard Gilberto.
Taylor Widener’s move to the rotation highlights Arizona’s roster changes, writes Nick Piecoro.
Tony Wolfe believes Rick Porcello should have a job by now.
Random Baseball Rewind
Last week you may have noticed that every rewind focused on Mickey Mantle. I think that’s something that will happen going forward - highlighting a different player for the whole week. This week we’ll go with Stan Musial, the Cardinal great who I had a nice chat about recently with one of our loyal readers.
God bless and good day!
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